Dozens of soldiers arrested ahead of presidential election

Dozens of junior army officers and soldiers have been arrested in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, in a series of swoops on army barracks and private homes, relatives of the detainees said on Friday. They told IRIN that the arrests began on Wednesday night and continued through Thursday. Those detained included Lieutenant Alpha Ousmane Diallo, a son of the former speaker of parliament, Bubacarr Biro Diallo. His wife, Kadiatou Diallo, told reporters that soldiers took her husband away from the family home on Wednesday night, saying that he was wanted urgently by his boss. "I have not seen him since," she added. The government has not given any reason for the wave of arrests, which were described by military sources as routine checks. The security sweep took place during the run-up to presidential elections due on December 21. All of Guinea's main opposition parties have boycotted the poll, which is virtually guaranteed to see President Lansana Conte returned to power for a further seven years. Conte, who has ruled this poor West African country with an iron hand since coming to power in a 1984 coup, will be opposed by only one minor challenger, Mamadou Bhoye Barry. He is a virtual unknown in political circles and sits in parliament as the sole deputy of a small pro-government party, the Union for National Progress (UPN). Conte is 69 and has suffered long-term health problems linked to diabetes. Diplomats say he frequently has difficulty walking. The president's poor state of health prompted him to announce in September that he would not personally take an active part in his re-election campaign. The president's failing health, a steady deterioration of the economy and the opposition boycott on of the presidential election have prompted a wave of speculation that Conte may not be able maintain himself in power for much longer. On November 1, Conte warned the army not to try and pull a coup in a keynote speech at Camp Samory, the main military barracks in Conakry. A week later, an alliance of Guinea's seven main opposition parties called the Republican Front for Democratic Change (FRAD) announced that it would boycott the presidential election in view of the government's refusal to appoint a genuinely independent electoral commission and give the opposition free access to state radio and television. The National Democratic Institute (NDI), a political foundation linked to the US Democrat Party, announced this week that it was suspending its activities in Guinea because it was dissatisfied with the way the election was being organised. Earlier this year, the NDI helped to broker a government dialogue with the opposition in this former French colony of eight million people.